Mallard??? Nope, not quite! This is a hybrid mallard. I sent the first 2 photos over to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences on their Ask a Naturalist site and asked did they have any ideas what the parentage was. They said they felt that it was mallard x muscovy duck x Graylag goose. Mallards often cross breed with other duck and goose species. My goodness what a mixture. However, quite a gorgeous bird to see. Third photo is a normal mallard so you can see the difference.
Jordan Lake. Foraging together along the shoreline of the lake was a striking pair of birds. One was a very brilliantly white great egret and the other was a very colorful male mallard. The great egret was the first one Captain Doug and I had seen this season.
Jordan Lake. In the bird world, when you are startled you don’t usually make a beeline for the closest human … suddenly there was an incoming mallard drake filling my lens!
Jordan Lake. Two pairs of mallard ducks appeared. One pair quickly settled into feeding for the morning. The other pair apparently had to get stretched out before they began their own feeding. Hope you enjoy the mallards!
It is New Year’s Eve and I wanted to share a quiet ending to this year with each of you. So, please enjoy the mallards as they serenely paddle Jordan Lake.
Jordan Lake. Mallard ducks, especially the drakes, always seem to launch from the water as if they were exploding into the air! That’s certainly what this pair looked like to Captain Doug and I when we were out on the lake yesterday.
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